There are far more SOPA/PIPA opponents than supporters on hand here, as one might expect. The RIAA, however, is also on scene this week at the show -- and a spokeswoman expressed concern about the conversation so far. "It sure seems like the deck is stacked to ensure no meaningful or balanced debate occurs on an issue that is very important to American jobs and our economy,” the spox said.

Are these guys serious? First of all, the attendees at the show are overwhelmingly against the bills from everything we've seen. Seeing Ron Wyden and Darrell Issa get standing ovations for opposing the bills should say something. And it's not that "the decks are stacked" against them through some nefarious means, but that the majority of people are against them because they don't like these bills. More SOPA supporters -- including RIAA/MPAA/US Chamber of Commerce folks (all of whom are here) -- could have come, but it appears not many did. And that's because not too many seem to support these bills.

But, more to the point, who the hell does the RIAA think it's kidding? "The deck is stacked"? At a trade show? How about back in Washington DC where this bill was written? In that case, the MPAA/RIAA folks were very, very active in the very creation of the bills in question. The tech sector? NOT ALLOWED at the table. The Judiciary Committee hearings? Stacked five-to-one in favor of the bill, and the "one" against the bill was Google -- who is Congress' punching bag, and was put there so that Congressional reps could grandstand against the company and pretend that only "evil Google" is against the bill. Plenty of us involved in the actual innovation economy -- the startup entrepreneurs and venture capitalists who create all this innovation offered to step up and meet about these bills -- and we were denied.

The deck is stacked? Hell yes, it's stacked. It's stacked almost 100% in favor of rushing through a bad bill that fundamentally alters both the legal and technical underpinnings of the internet, making the innovations we all want and need -- including the innovations that are already helping musicians and filmmakers and other artists -- much, much more difficult to get off the ground.

The deck is stacked? When Hollywood outspends all of those opposed on this issue with their lobbying dollars 10-to-1, and Congress simply ignores the widespread outrage and legitimate concerns of those opposed to the bill, you'd better freaking believe that the "deck is stacked." It's stacked in the other direction entirely.

So, boo-freaking-hoo to the ridiculous folks at the RIAA. So damn sorry that once you leave your DC bubble and come out to the real world where innovation actually takes place you find reality is against you. But if you want to talk about how "the deck is stacked," let's take a look back into the DC echo chamber where these bills have been crafted and are being pushed through. Yes, the deck is stacked -- and it's stacked completely against innovation and openness. So forgive us for not shedding a tear at the fact that your poor, overly-sensitive lobbyists have to hear some of the real world concerns about this bill.

Re:

It's because of people like you that the RIAA feels bad. You know... People! The kind of people who have brains and use oxygen. The RIAA spends time, money and effort violating your civil rights and if you don't show a little gratitude, that hurts their feelings! So stop being such a human being and encourage the violation of your rights for heaven's sake!

I would love to see any of them pull the same crap on the open floor of debate. I do so hope someone has a video of this debate and puts it on the internet. Then let's REALLY get creative with their recorded arguments!

Well, I can't really say I blame them. When you live in your own little fantasy castle where you get to handpick ingratiating toads who grovel at your feet, and then suddenly have to enter the real world and face the cold hard trust that everyone thinks you suck, it can be quite a shock.

The more I hear the RIAA talk, the more I wonder why in the bloody blue blazes I ever supported them/their position.

Re:

Love this quote

It sure seems like the deck is stacked to ensure no meaningful or balanced debate occurs on an issue that is very important to American jobs and our economy

Love how they keep trotting out that somehow the entire US economy, or even a large percentage of it, is based on IP. Thus implying piracy and counterfeiting will single handedly doom the economy. Politicians sink economies, not piracy.

Actually...

Dogfood is a term for in-development software unfit for public distribution -- the idea of "eating your own dogfood" implying that you wouldn't unleash something to the public without testing it yourself.

In contrast, this is "shitting in the litterbox and then wondering why it stinks".

RIAA

So they've stacked every other forum and legislative committee hearing to date with their point of view, gleefully shutting out both the media and the public from participating, and the first time a major event occurs where they can't control who can say what, they start whining.

Apparently for them "meaningful or balanced debate" can only occur when they have complete control of what is said.

Re: Re: RIAA

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Nice try, but no. It would be the current president during the healthcare bill. The Repubs were shut out and we were told we would have to pass it to find out what is in it. Is that how you want your government spending $1 trillion of the taxpayer dollars? No debate, no public scrutiny and no involvement from the other party?

No? Me either. But our current president seems to think that non-partisan politics is when the Republicans do what he wants.

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Like the Republicans holding finance bills hostage and attaching unrelated matters like pipelines and refusing to vote until it could go thru unchanged?

Unfortunately, this is exactly how two party politics works and has nothing to do with my previous point. Bipartisanship requires compromise, not and end run around the other party when you have a super majority.

Keep in mind what spokespeople are paid for

Look, if it was just a matter of telling the truth, then CEOs and other people in similar positions could do that; they could just step up to the podium and speak for themselves. It's simple. It's easy. But it takes trained, practiced, savvy professionals -- spokesliars -- to craft and deliver the kind of quality untruths that we see from people like the one in this instance. I'm sure some of them even manage to convince themselves that they're telling the truth.

Never believe anything they say. It might be the truth -- after all, professional liars know that using the truth, when it suits their purposes, is an excellent strategy -- but that's sure not the way to bet.

Re: Keep in mind what spokespeople are paid for

...Never believe anything they say. It might be the truth -- after all, professional liars know that using the truth, when it suits their purposes, is an excellent strategy -- but that's sure not the way to bet.

Spin 101: Ensure that whatever you say has a kernel of truth in such a way as to give credence to the entire narrative. If you can twist the actual facts, all the better for the success of your disinformation campaign...

Speaking of which...

Since we're on the topic of the deck being stacked, I'd also like to point out that the deck is stacked against me as well. I mean, North Korea wouldn't even consider my proposal that I be crowned the next Dear Leader.

Aaawwwww... We hurt their feelings. This will certainly get more ppl to support SOPA/PIPA. Not.

Dear MAFIAA, reality hurts. Reality shows there is not enough money to support your lost sales delusions. No really, You can't claim you lost trillions when the world economy doesn't have that much money, stock markets virtual value included. If you want to trick some1 into believing your "OMG PIRACY!" whining at least try to make your numbers look real.

Who's Sorry Now?

Who cried when major record labels routinely insisted on predatory contracts with their talent, and business conditions that favored their interests over those of consumers?

Who cried when movie distributors insisted on contracts with the exhibition industry that force artificial conditions which keep theater seats empty?

Oh, did I mention license and permit requirements that force small local businesses to reject or remove live music from their establishments to protect IP rights that have no benefit to the artists who (theoretically) hold them?

No babies, dry your eyes. This is called "consequence." We still love you and hope you grow up into responsible citizens. But you can't keep doing this.

Re:

3/10 for trolling. Points awarded for content...including some of the important trolling parts - ad hominem attacks, "freetards", and calling mike a pirate. 2 Points awarded for style - not actually addressing anything remotely related to the subject at hand.

The RIAA has 'stacked the deck' against consumers and artists for years. This is only poetic justice.

Screw you RIAA - I boycotted buying CD's for 5 years over the Napster crap - but I've been buying them for a while now - if SOPA goes through, I'll quit buying them again - this time, maybe for 10 years.

No skin off my back; with Pandora/Radio + the CD's I have now, I really don't need to buy anymore ever. There is little good music coming out anymore anyway.

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Why on earth are you buying CDs?
Honestly, who is still doing that?

Well I don't know about Overcast, it sounds like he's buying them for his own use. But I'm not sure there's a good way to give music as a gift yet other than as a CD. If there is, somebody point me to it.

Boycott CES

This just goes to show that nothing good has come out of CES since Pong. The same Consumers Electronic Association who opposed the DMCA and recycling. Yet, supported Grokster, Napster and using camcorders in theatres. Surprise! Not!

Re:

Nice try. 1 out of 6 in favor of SOPA would be 17% for, 83% against. That's pretty close to representative of CES members. If you're looking for bias, you're gonna have to keep looking.

The congressional hearings, on the other hand had 83% of the speakers in the congressional hearings - SOPA supporters - from the low double digits of the economy (which SOPA is supposed to protect), and only a couple percent of the country (which congress is supposed to represent). In other words, the very definition of stacking the deck.

Re: Re:

My original response was submitted, noted as having been accepted, and then never showed up.

Merely FYI, CES 2012 has 3338 exhibitors. For the overwhelming number of them to be against the legislation you would have had to talk with a whole bunch of people.

I wonder what the rep from Lowe's said.

As for being a supporter of the bills, please take note that I have never expressed either a pro or con opinion. All I have done is comment whenever some portion of the bill was said to call for "X" when in my opinion the terms of the bill call for "Y". This is not the same as being a supporter, but only pointing out interpretive inconsistencies.

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Merely FYI, CES 2012 has 3338 exhibitors. For the overwhelming number of them to be against the legislation you would have had to talk with a whole bunch of people.

If the sample were random, it wouldn't really take that many people to get a statistically meaningful result. I think national surveys only talk to a few thousand people and get a margin of error of something like 4-5%. Of course Mike's sample is not going to be random, so it's not clear how conclusive the results would be, but perhaps better than you might think.

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"All I have done is comment whenever some portion of the bill was said to call for "X" when in my opinion the terms of the bill call for "Y""

No, all you've done (assuming you're the usual AC) is berate people for having a different interpretation of the bill, never admitting that your statements are simply your opinion, let alone being open to discussing it with others.

I suppose it's a start that you've admitted that it's opinion and not some unchangeable truth, I suppose. Maybe you'll be more civil and actually tell Mike why your opinion differs rather than attacking him?

Copy protection lengths last 95+ years and keep getting retroactively extended with no compensation from the public whom these people steal from. Yet infringement penalties are huge and penalties for filing bogus infringement claims are relatively small to non-existent by comparison. Yes, the deck is stacked against the public.

But but but every other conference I get to attend everyone waits with baited breath for the next stream of lies to pour out of my mouth, why can't it be like that here?!
What do you mean we don't own them yet?
Get me ICE on the phone NOW, we will fix this oversight immediately!

At some point they are so delusional it would just be best to confine them somewhere for everyones sakes.
Can we just call Washington back into session and wall the damn thing off?

Citizen RIAA

Does anyone else here think the RIAA is acting like Charles Foster Kane?

"People will think... what I tell them to think."

If so, we're coming up on the two-hour mark:

"Whaddaya been doin' all this time?"

"Playing with a jigsaw puzzle."

"If you could've found out what 'CD' meant, I bet that would've explained everything."

"No, I don't think so; no. Mr. RIAA was a man who got everything they wanted and then lost it. Maybe 'CD' was something he couldn't get, or something he lost. Anyway, it wouldn't have explained anything... I don't think any word can explain a man's life. No, I guess 'CD' is just a... piece in a jigsaw puzzle... a missing piece."

Stack THIS, madam spokeswoman

...the deck is stacked to ensure no meaningful or balanced debate occurs on an issue that is very important to American jobs and our economy."

What about the 30,000+ "American jobs" created by the hated Google alone, and $200 billion market value created and poured into "our economy" by Google alone, in just the past decade or so?

These guys deserve all the profanity that Mike was classy enough not to sprinkle liberally throughout the article. Having read about the outrageously stacked legislative process that the bill has been through so far, reading this had me bursting a few blood vessels as well. Mike, hats off to you for calling it as you see it.